Sanitary napkins and related disposable absorbent articles which provide for the collection of menses and other bodily discharges are well known in the art. It has long been an object of sanitary napkins to readily intercept menses upon discharge from the wearer. Such sanitary napkins typically have a means, such as pressure sensitive adhesive, for affixing the sanitary napkin to the undergarment of a wearer and for maintaining the sanitary napkin in the proper position to intercept the discharged menses.
However, certain difficulties may arise with current absorbent products. For example, the undergarment may not, in fact, move in concert with the body of the wearer. Specifically, the crotch of the undergarment of the wearer may not be in an optimal position relative to the vaginal opening. In addition, as the wearer spreads her legs, walks, sits, etc., the sanitary napkin may not flex and twist with the undergarment--stressing the means for affixing the sanitary napkin to the undergarment of the wearer. In fact, the pressure sensitive adhesive may become detached from the undergarment, further allowing the sanitary napkin to shift from the desired position and registration with resulting loss of protection.
Several attempts in the art have been made to provide a sanitary napkin which may be attached to the undergarment of the wearer and also maintain the constant position with respect to the body of the wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,130 issued Jan. 10, 1984 to DesMarais discloses a sanitary napkin having decoupled components joined at the transverse edges. U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,906 issued Apr. 16, 1991 to Osborn III, et al. discloses a sanitary napkin with a topsheet and an absorbent core that are decoupled from the backsheet allowing the topsheet and the backsheet to be separated in the Z-direction.
Attempts have also been made to provide sanitary napkins with improved means for protection of a wearer's undergarment. For example U.S. Pat. No. B1 4,589,876 Reexamination Certificate issued Apr. 27, 1993 to Van Tilburg describes a sanitary napkin with flaps that extend laterally from a longitudinal edge of a central absorbent pad. The flaps contain a flexible axis about which the flap can fold on itself. In use, each flap bends on this axis around the crotch portion of a wearer's panty. U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,418 issued to Kons, et al. on Aug. 6, 1991 discloses an absorbent article designed to be attached to the crotch region of an undergarment. An optionally attachable protective sheet is provided which can wrap the crotch region of the undergarment to prevent staining.
Other attempts have been made to provide sanitary napkins that compensate for pad movement due to wearer motion. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,405 issued to Lassen on Aug. 12, 1986 which describes a sanitary napkin with a positioning strap attached to the pad on one end of the strap, a means for attaching the strap to the undergarment on the other end of the strap, and a low friction baffle which is said to allow longitudinal sliding of the pad in response to wearer motion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,373 issued to Johnson on Sep. 2, 1986 discloses a perineal pad said to limit the range of possible displacement of the pad. The pad has a strip attached to the pad at one end and attachment means at the other end of the strip. The strip is passed through a loop in an undergarment and then attached to the garment facing side of the pad using the attachment means.
In spite of these efforts, however, the search for improved absorbent articles has continued. In particular, the need exists for a unitary disposable absorbent article which has an alternative undergarment protection system which allows a wearer to position the article in an optimal location and attach it to an undergarment in that location so it remains reliably attached there.
It is an object of this invention to provide a sanitary napkin which more readily intercepts menses as it is discharged. Also, it is an object of this invention to provide a sanitary napkin which remains in an optimal location throughout the range of normal movements encountered while the sanitary napkin is worn. Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a sanitary napkin which allows a wearer to determine what the optimal location is for her particular needs and attach the sanitary napkin in that location.